Bringing the Word to Remote Nepal: The Purbiya Tamang Project

Location: Nepal 
Speakers: 800,000 
Project Status: New Testament 
Christian Population: 6.6%

The Tamang are one of the main ethnic groups in Nepal. There are two main forms of the Tamang language: Eastern and Western. Variants of Tamang are also spoken in parts of India bordering Nepal. Purbiya Tamang, a variant of Eastern Tamang, has approximately 800,000 speakers, and is spoken by many in villages who do not speak Nepali due to the lack of education and remoteness.

Many of the Tamang are subsistence farmers with the usual problems found in many of the rural tribal areas of Nepal: child marriage and illiteracy, as well as a lack of healthcare, sanitation, and clean drinking water. Buddhism is the main religion practiced in these parts, but Hinduism and animism can also be found.

We are currently working on the typesetting of the Gospel according to John. The translation work has now progressed to the New Testament, and we are thankful for all the work the translators have done thus far on it. We are grateful for the resources to begin the translation of the New Testament owing to the generosity of supporters in Canada.

‘My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth’ (1 John 3.18).

How to pray for the project:

• For the Gospel to be proclaimed to the Purbiya Tamang people of Nepal, and that the Lord would open their hearts to hear the truths proclaimed in the Scriptures.
• For the typesetting, publication, and distribution of the Gospel according to John.
• For the translation team as they endeavour to translate the Scriptures faithfully.